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Doesn't matter if you like the music on the album, just post cover art that you enjoy and explain why. provide links as well.

1) Gil-Scott Heron - I'm New Here
The vibrant font really makes this cover successful in my opinion. It's a very soothing black and white picture of him inhaling, and then you have these bright colours that create this strong contrast that works really well.

Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons...
DOOM - Born Like This (though that has his mask and may not count)
Busdriver - Jheli Beam
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
GZA - Liquid Swords, which I count because it's a drawing of GZA stabbing a bitch with a katana.
Wu-Tang Clan - The W

All without the artist!
That said, it's because hip-hop is about that one guy at the mic and the beats behind it. The guy on the mic is who you're going to be going to be sitting down with, and being able to see them makes them more relatable. It's almost psychological.

FTB has it right, though; there's a culture involved in any genre, and that culture has a lot of impact on what the group finds to be aesthetically pleasing, like the stark imagery of electro/techno/house/whatever (i.e. Four Tet's There Is Love In You or Hot Chip's The Warning) or the use of art, either a) drawings or cartoons(i.e. The Thermals' Now We Can See; anything by Sufjan Stevens) b) paintings or photographs (i.e. Antony & The Johnsons' The Crying Light).

Ultimately, it also puts you in a certain mindset. It's all "judging a book by its cover," and how you want the outside to give you an impression of the inside.

Why, yes. I have been drinking and browsing the internet. I apologize for babbling!

I especially love the italicised fonts on the last two there. Very 'retro' and remind me a bit of the old BBC logo. The Divine Comedy one is so very Neil and the Eighties Matchbox cover is just a great drawing. Other favourites include Gil Scott's and the Besnard Lakes'.